Believe

I'm writing this blog from Ardnacross on the Isle of Mull, over looking the sound of Mull.

A good place to reflect on what has been, for me at least, a tumultuous year.

In 2012 the highs were very high, and the depth of the lows could barely be imagined.

I lost my dear father who inspired me to set out on this remarkable journey and one of my very closest friends who so frequently inspired me at many different times in my life.

Having the Olympic Golden greats exhibition in the year of London 2012 was is something I will never forget, and something I will always be proud of, having achieved it with my partner Lucinda Marland.

It's to the Olympics I return.

Like many others the opening ceremony exceeded my expectation many times over, something to be proud of and something I believe will positively influence many people for many years to come.

The charismatic ringmaster of the opening ceremony was the talented and likeable Danny Boyle.

With the director of 'Slum Dog millionaire' and 'Trainspotting' at the helm it should have been a foregone conclusion that it was going to be a big hit, right?

Well let's not forget he also directed the lack lustre movie 'The Beach' for which he received a verbal lashing from the critics and some Hollywood insiders too.

He was recently interviewed by the Mark Lawson for the BBC Radio 4 arts programme 'Front Row' where he unveiled large neon sign with one word which he felt reflected the games and the year.

He chose the word 'Wonder'

But he said that he could have equally have chosen the word 'believe' but did not in the end, as it could come over as 'dangerously messianic'

I really like Danny Boyle but I reckon he bottled this one.

'Believe' would have been a little more direct and pertinent too.

Just as Danny Boyle, quite rightly, is the media darling at the moment with the success of the opening ceremony, I believe it was a success which was hard fought for, and was indeed built on the foundation of many of his less glorious moments and failures.

I'm not Danny Boyle, but aside from the loss of two people who were very dear to me, I have had to endure some career let downs this year which were bitter disappointments.

One can let events like this dent your confidence or even crush your spirits, but I'm taking forward the lessons learned and will build on the foundation of faliure to go 'Faster, higher stronger'

It really is all down to that word 'Believe'

Anything that one has a profound belief in does shine through.

That is particularly true in the world of photography, anything that I shoot which I'm really passionate about stands out a mile.

So, for 2013 I will be taking a little bit of Danny Boyle's advice and carry more belief into some of my 'background' projects than I ever have before, and this time next year let's see what the outcome is?

Olympic Golden Greats Part 3 - Ann Packer

Photography is just a reflection of life.

Imperfect.

Lucinda and I planned to photograph Ann Packer who won the 800 meters at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic games setting a new world record in the process.

But where to photograph her?

All of the Gold Medalists we have shot have been photographed at a location, wherever possible, which is special to them, relevant, or is impressive.

On this occasion for various logistical reasons it simply was not possible.

We had to shoot the portrait at her home in the middle of Winter.

What to do?

We had to arrange the shot so it would work well as a still photo and would make the basis of a good background for a video and interview, as time was short (we used the Canon XF305 and a Canon 5dMkII for the video....what I would have given for a Canon C300....sigh)

We opted for a simple very set build to cover both bases.

We decided to hang a beautiful old style, stitched fabric, Union Flag (the right way up with the aid of Wikipedia) between two Manfrotto BAC1004 Stacker stands (which don't rattle in the boot of the car, thus preserving sanity) and Manfrotto 2983 Crossbar.

The flag is a very handy prop, indeed and has featured in several of my hotshots over the years.

Where did I get it from?

A church roof.

Yes, really church roof.

And before anyone gets warmed up over this and thinks I have taken it a little too far in my quest for the perfect picture prop, I did in fact pay for it.

The Vicar of a rural Oxfordshire church was seeking to renew the somewhat battered flag and I offered him a modest amount of money for the flag.

We struck a deal and have a very well used prop.

Along with the rest of the series we chose to shoot with the Schneider Kreuznach LS 110mm f/2.8 wide open at F2.8 on the Phase One DF with a P65+ back at 50 ISO.

I used my big Gitzo with Manfrotto 405 Geared head for maximum precision.

We lit the set with 3 Elinchrom Quadra flashes.

The key light modified with a Chimera Medium soft box.

The back light for Anne (coming in from camera right) modified with Chimera XXS soft box with a light tools egg crate.

Finally one light to the centre of the flag with a kill spill and a honeycomb grid.

Not a super complex set up but one which was based on subtlety, I like to think anyhow.

Overall I'm very pleased with the shot.

We moved a fair bit of furniture( this takes more time than the shoot in most cases) and turned the living room into a studio.

Its not the first time, nor will it be the last time.

Making the best of an imperfect scenario.

Once again this is part of the 'Olympic Golden greats' exhibition at the John Lewis store at the Westfield centre, Stratford.

Sponsored by Manfrotto and printed by Velmex on Canon LFP Printers.

I've seen that somewhere before....

My head is so full of stuff its about to pop!

But I did a double take when I saw the 1 year countdown to the London 2012 Olympics.

Synchronised swimmers made a '1' in front of the great and the good.

A bit like the '1' I did for Phase One in Denmark........

Here is a behind the scenes video of my shoot for Phase One, crewing the '1' was a lot of fun, though 10 meters does seem a long way up on a diving board (what a lightweight I am...)

I prefer mine as it is more defined.....but I'm biased